1. 1 2. Aim Acknowledgements Background DirectionalDrilling Easy Pipe System Conclusions 2 3. Objectiveis to present the earlier work done to tackle the challenges which require access to deeply situated ore bodies by introducing alternative vertical/near vertical drilling/excavation technologies to gain access an orebody aimingto stimulate the technology transfer opportunities in the mining industry 3 4. DebTech, A division of DeBeers Group Services, South Africa Dr. Rudiger Kogler, Directional Drilling Consultant, Germany Herrenknecht, Tunneling Systems, Germany Navigational Drilling Services, South Africa Transco Manufacturing Co, Australia 4 5. DebTech Mining Research team were tasked to find viable technicalsolutions to some of the exploration and mining challenges in DeBeersgroup operations. [ 1997-2007]Targets were; Deep seated alluvial diamond deposits (e.g. Megaladon, Namaqualand Mines, South Africa) Flat lying kimberlites (e.g. Fort A La Corne, Canada) Deposits lying under inaccessable terrains (e.g. swamps, rivers etc) or some other reasons (e.g. working open pit, Venetia)5 6. Directional Drilling-First Applications6 7. Directional Drilling Lengths01500m 3000m 4500m 6000m 7 8. 8 9. Pilot Drilling 10. Longest Drills in Civil Application- 2063 meters Exit Point2063 meters Rig Site Tamar River - Australia 11. Reaming Material FlowReamer Direction 12. Reamers 13. Reamer-Miner Tool DevelopedTool X-Sectional View 14. Largest Drill Rigs770 TONS PULLBACK POWER122 kN/m TORQUE 15. Elementary Mining Principles 16. New Tools for Old Principles 17. Accessing Ore 18. Ground Breaking 19. Ground Handling 20. Advantages 21. Advantages 22. Advantages 23. Directional Drilling in ExplorationContinuous bulk sampling of lateral orebodies 24. Conventional Drill-Auger 25. Analogy used to compareThe vertical and horizontalExploration systems inA flat lying depositWhich famous paintingWe are sampling?Can you guess? 26. Cost Comparison26 27. Cost ComparisonTotal Cost Comparison for a km2 area160,000,000140,000,000Total Drilling Cost (R)120,000,000100,000,000 80,000,000 60,000,000 40,000,000 20,000,000 0050100 150 200250 Overburden Depth (m)Total sample volume is the same for both methods - 3,500 m3/km2 28. Advantages of DD in Exploration Less Cost per Unit Sample Less Time to explore Instead of punching holes, samplingthrough the strata Minimal Disturbance to Environment, remote single entry andexit site Continuous Representation of The Geology- attacking anyangle planned not limited to vertical Higher confidence in resource models Flexibility of deployment 29. Easy Pipe Technology Easy Pipe Technology is one of the large-scale drillingtechniques developed for bulk sampling of buried kimberlitic anddeep alluvial diamond orebodies Objective was to shorten the advanced exploration/bulk samplingand resource development time 29 30. Easy Pipe Technology Intro 30 31. Conclusions There are alternative ways to access and extract an orebody forexploration or mining Technology transfer from other industries (e.g. aeronautics,petroleum and civil industry) present valuable potential Environmental and safety benefits of such new technologies need tobe emphasized Mining Concept and Pre-feasibility studies should welcome suchopportunities for improvement 31